Eric Matthew Stefani (born June 17, 1967) is an American musician, composer, writer and animator best known as the founder and former member of the

ska punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. (sometimes spelled skacore) is a subgenre of ska punk that mixes ska with hardcore punk. Early ska punk mixed both 2 tone and ska with hard ...

band

No Doubt No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1986. For most of their career, the band has consisted of vocalist Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young. Since the mid-1990s, ...

. He is the older brother of former bandmate

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderweb ...

and is also a former animator on the television series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, ...

'' and ''

The Ren & Stimpy Show ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' (also known as ''Ren & Stimpy'') is an American animated television series created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi. Originally produced by Spümcø for Nickelodeon, the series aired from August 11, 1991, to Dece ...

''.

Early life and education

Stefani is the son of Dennis and Patti Stefani. He attended

Loara High School Loara High School is a public four year American high school in the Anaheim Union High School District, located in the Southwest Anaheim region of Anaheim, California, Anaheim, California. Loara is a Title I school that serves many students from l ...

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

. He worked at a

Dairy Queen Dairy Queen (DQ) is an American chain of soft serve ice cream and fast food restaurants owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc. (a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway since 1998) which also owns Orange Julius, and formerly owned Karmelkorn and ...

with his sister Gwen and John Spence. He studied animation at the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

in 1991. According to No Doubt's guitarist Tom Dumont, Eric was able to write music for the band despite not knowing music theory—an accomplishment that impressed Dumont since he was a music major.

Career

Stefani, his sister Gwen and John Spence formed the band No Doubt in 1986.Vineyard, Jennifer
"Tunes and 'Toons"
, OCWeekly.com, February 26, 1998; retrieved August 24, 2007. The group did add several members and performed live shows at venues such as Fenders Ballroom in

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporat ...

. The group started writing original material much of which Eric Stefani contributed. He left once the band's album '' Tragic Kingdom'' was recorded. Eric and Gwen were nominated as a songwriting team at the

1998 Grammy Awards The 40th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1998, at Radio City Music Hall, New York City. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Rock icon Bob Dylan, Alison Krauss & Union Station, and R. Kelly were the ...

for Song of the Year for "

Don't Speak "Don't Speak" is a song by American rock band No Doubt from their third studio album, ''Tragic Kingdom'' (1995). It was released as the third single from ''Tragic Kingdom'' in the United States on April 15, 1996, by Interscope Records. Lead si ...

". Stefani left the group before their breakthrough to work in animation full time, previously splitting his time with the band, and working for ''

''. The episode "

Homerpalooza "Homerpalooza" is the twenty-fourth and penultimate episode of the The Simpsons (season 7), seventh season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network in the United ...

" contains a quick scene, drawn by Stefani, where the members of No Doubt appear, although they aren't featured. In an interview on ''

Late Night with Seth Meyers ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' is an American late-night news and political satire talk show hosted by Seth Meyers on NBC. The show premiered on February 24, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. Airing weeknigh ...

'' on October 26, 2020, Gwen revealed that Eric recorded some instrumentation on one of the tracks for her upcoming album, which ended up being " Let Me Reintroduce Myself".

References

External links

Blogger: User Profile: Eric Stefani
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stefani, Eric 1967 births Living people American rock keyboardists American ska musicians California Institute of the Arts alumni Musicians from Anaheim, California No Doubt members 20th-century American keyboardists